By
Greg Barns, The Drum, 25 February 2011:
Tasmanian Greens leader Nick McKim is leading a revolution.
McKim, Minister for Corrections in the State’s Labor-Green coalition government, is doing something no other prisons minister in this country has ever done – shift the focus of prison management from that of blunt security of maximum security prisoners to one of maximizing their freedom within the confines of the prison boundaries so as to increase the opportunity for rehabilitation.
That Mr McKim’s policy reform is radical is manifest in his actions and rhetoric. He has taken on the union movement with his bold move this week to stand down 40 correctional officers after they objected to McKim’s decision to remove Tactical Response Group armed officers from high security areas of Hobart’s Risdon prison, and to allow prisoners in maximum security areas more time out of their cells and without having to be handcuffed. Some unions have reacted in a bully boy fashion, threatening the Greens with no more political donations if McKim continues with his actions.
McKim’s opponents accuse him of putting the safety of correctional officers at risk by removing armed guards, handcuffs and allowing prisoners more sunshine. But this is of course nonsense. McKim understands what Australian correctional authorities stuck in the 19th century English model of prison life have refused to acknowledge, presumably for political reasons. That is, that it is the deprivation of liberty itself which is the punishment. Once a person is inside prison they are entitled - and it makes perfect sense - to be treated with dignity and respect.
But the reality of life for the vast majority of prisoners in Australia, and particularly those in maximum security areas, is that their lives are governed by a capricious discipline system, long periods of being locked down in their cells, and very limited opportunities to focus on mental and physical health and rehabilitation. The world in which they exist (because it cannot be said that they ‘live’) is oppressive. There are alarms, bars, grey walls, limited access to sunlight, and armed guards. The food quality is poor and the opportunities to access recreational, educational and mental health programs is severely limited or non-existent. Prison management shamefully uses family visits as a disciplinary tool – ‘misbehave and you can’t see your kids.’
